Plaintiff attorneys argued that meaningful steps to curb underage usage did not begin until 2021, when Instagram required users to input birthdays. Meta countered that age information collection began in 2019.
Instagram’s daily user engagement continued to rise in recent years, reaching an average of 46 minutes per day in 2026, up from 40 minutes in 2023, according to internal documents disclosed during CEO Mark Zuckerberg’s testimony in a Los Angeles courtroom.
The figures surfaced in K.G.M. v. Platforms et al., a case being heard in L.A. County Superior Court. A jury will decide whether social media companies can be held legally responsible for youth mental health harms allegedly linked to their platforms or addictive product design. While Snap and TikTok reached settlements before trial, executives from Meta and YouTube are testifying.
The plaintiff, a 19-year-old identified by the initials K.G.M., alleges that early exposure to social media led to addiction, depression and suicidal ideation. Meta disputes the claim, arguing that the plaintiff experienced significant personal challenges prior to using its platforms.
A central question in the case is whether Meta prioritised increasing time spent on Instagram despite knowing that minors were active on the app.
During testimony, Zuckerberg was asked about his 2024 congressional statement that children under 13 are not permitted on Instagram. Plaintiff attorneys pointed to internal documents from 2015 estimating approximately 4 million under-13 users on the platform at the time — representing roughly 30 percent of 10- to 12-year-olds in the United States.
Zuckerberg maintained that he accurately described company policy to Congress and said Instagram removed underage users when identified. He also distinguished between tracking user engagement “milestones” and setting explicit internal “goals” tied to time spent.
However, plaintiff lawyers presented internal communications suggesting a strong corporate focus on young users. One former product manager allegedly wrote that the company’s “overall company goal is total teen time spent.” Other documents described teens as a top corporate priority in early 2017, while a 2018 market analysis reportedly identified tweens as the highest-retention demographic. An email from adviser Nick Clegg characterised Instagram’s age requirements as “unenforceable,” according to court references.
Plaintiff attorneys argued that meaningful steps to curb underage usage did not begin until 2021, when Instagram required users to input birthdays. Meta countered that age information collection began in 2019.
Instagram has since introduced expanded teen safety features, including stricter privacy defaults and parental supervision tools. Nonetheless, documents cited in court suggest the company continues to view teenagers as a critical growth segment, with ambitions to become the largest teen social media destination by monthly active users in the United States and globally.
The jury must now determine whether Instagram’s design and engagement strategies were a substantial factor in the plaintiff’s mental health struggles — a verdict that could carry broader implications for platform liability and youth protection standards across the social media industry.
